Conceptual Delimitations in the Field of Biosecurity

Biosecurity is a term who was brought more into our attention after the events of September 11, 2010 who have been followed by the most famous bioterrorist attack with the anthrax letters. Defining biosecurity is not as easy how it looks at first side because this term it has a lot of interpretations according to various disciplines where it is used. At the beginning biosecurity was introduced as a set of measures with the purpose to reduce the risk of transmission of the infectious diseases in living modified organism, quarantined pests and infectious diseases in livestock and crops. Nowadays the term includes also the biological threats to environment, industries and to people and brings into our attention terms like bioterrorism, bioattack, bioweapons, biodefense, biosafety, biohazard, biorisk, biocontainment and biosurety. This article has one primary objective and that is to assess the roots and etymology of the term biosecurity by presenting a short historical perspective which will lead to a better delimitation of the concept, and to define some key concepts related to this area. The result of this conceptual delimitation of the biosecurity is to bring into attention the importance of this area which before COVID-19 events wasn’t took into consideration at the level it should be.